Washington Mystics Pick Up First Win

Stefanie Dolson warms up before game vs. CT Sun (Kyle Wescott/ MyWSports)

When the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics faced off Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, both teams came in needing a win. The Sun at 1-1 had beaten the San Antonio Stars in their last outing and were hoping to get on a roll early in the season. The Mystics came in at 0-3 and looking for their first win of the season. The Mystics were coming off of a 97-67 loss to the LA Sparks the day before.

This game was a game of swings. It was clear early on that Connecticut was attempting to spread Washington out and shoot the three. Unfortunately the Sun were 1-6 in the first quarter from beyond the arc and trailed 12-2 just 3 minutes into the game. The Sun would battle back after a timeout to regroup going on a 16-5 run and would end the quarter up 21-20.

The second quarter was an Alyssa Thomas’ showcase. Thomas who scored a career high 24 points for the Sun, put in 8 in the second quarter, to give Connecticut a 5 point lead at the half. The Mystics went with their starters most of the game, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt was spelled by Kahleah Copper after Ruffin-Pratt picked up her 3rd foul just 2 minutes into the second period. Every other starter for the Mystics recorded 30+ minutes on the floor. With Ruffin-Pratt on the bench, the Sun bench took advantage of scoring on Kia Vaughn and Copper, Camille Little and Rachel Banham saw a Connecticut swing of 12 points and 8 points, respectively while they were on the floor.

At the half the Mystics trailed by 5, even though they had given up 13 turnovers leading to 16 Sun points. The Mystics also led the Sun in field goal percentages 45% to 31%. Head Coach Thibault talked to this at the half saying “We gotta play with our feet, block out, don’t give them second shots and then go back go back at them.” Go back at them is exactly what the Mystics did. The Mystics took advantage of 15 free throws as compared to just 2 for the Sun in the third quarter. The Mystics took a 3 point lead with just 3 seconds to play in the third quarter, but Jasmine Thomas hit a running half court shot to tie the game up at 50 points apiece.

Tayler Hill and the Mystics big women, Stefanie Dolson and Emma Meesseman kept Washington within striking distance in the 4th quarter. The Sun, up 3 with a little over a minute to go, carried the ball into the paint, Alex Bentley missed a short shot, Chiney Ogwumike then got the offensive rebound and missed the put back. Meesseman got the layup to make it a 1 point game with 28 seconds to play. On the next possession, the Sun ran the clock and with 4 seconds remaining Kelsey Bone threw up an open 3 air ball. Dolson would be fouled on the last shot chance for the Mystics, but after missing the first, Dolson tied the game to send the game to overtime.

The game got out of reach quickly as Tayler Hill and the Mystics took over the game in the overtime period, with 2 rebounds and 6 points from the free throw line to ice the game for Washington. As the buzzer sounded, the Mystics celebrated their first win of the season 84-76.

The Sun, usually a very good 3 point shooting team, shot just 3-21 from beyond the arc on the night. Coach Thibault said that defense on the 3 pointer was the game plan and the defense did a great job of cooling the Sun from deep “With Banham, Little, and Stricklen we made them put it on the floor into a crowd tonight.”

Connecticut Head Coach Curt Miller felt that they let one get away “We were in position to win with a minute to go and we didn’t make the plays.” Miller pointed to the third quarter as a turning point for the Mystics where they were able to change the game saying “They made a point after half time to ram it right at us… they were getting to the rim and we were a jump shooting team.” The Sun also need Chiney Ogwumike, who was out all of last season due to injury, back healthy soon. With just 13 minutes on the floor against San Antonio and 14 minutes against Washington, Miller said “It’s game by game, we’ll figure it out the best we can… that’s a decision we have to make.”